Vuelta a Espana: 'I have pain' – Primoz Roglic's back injury lurks as biggest obstacle to fourth title

A troublesome back injury is arguably Primoz Roglic's biggest threat to winning a fourth title at the Vuelta a Espana. The Slovenian conceded he "has pain" after his impressive ride on Stage 13, which saw him take a huge chunk of time out of race leader Ben O'Connor, tempering the optimism around his latest statement ride. Roglic said he was having to take the race "day by day".

Roglic gewohnt zurückhaltend: "Mal gewinnt man, mal verliert man"

Video credit: TNT Sports

Primoz Roglic (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) said he "has pain" in his back and still doesn't feel "completely confident" despite his demolition job on Stage 13 of the Vuelta a Espana.

Roglic took almost two minutes out of leader Ben O'Connor (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) to move within 1'21" of the Australian. With two more big tests in the mountains to come this weekend, and nine stages remaining in total, the Slovenian is the clear favourite to land a fourth Vuelta crown.

However, he complained of back pain during the race after a hard crash during the Tour de France and said he was still playing the race cautiously.

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Asked if his back troubled him on Friday's run to Puerto de Ancares, Roglic told reporters, including Eurosport: "I have pain. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and today I'm on the right side.

"It's nice to gain something, it's nice when you go good. But this hard effort I still feel and I have to go day by day."

He added: "I don't feel maybe completely confident yet. We were a bit conservative and decided to take it day by day to see how it was."

Highlights: Roglic blows GC race wide open on Stage 13 of Vuelta a Espana as Woods claims win

Video credit: TNT Sports

Roglic thrived as the gradients ramped up to over 10% on the final climb, putting his Red Bull team-mates to work at the front of the GC group.

The infernal pace was already too hot for O'Connor by the time Roglic launched his own attack, with the Slovenian in a class of his own as he took off in pursuit of the red jersey.

Although O'Connor produced another valiant defence of his lead, he will need a remarkable recovery to avoid shipping more time before the second rest day on Monday.

Speaking at the finish, O'Connor said: "I was pretty cooked. I wasn't going anywhere in a hurry today. Sad times but I guess I'm still in red, so at least that's a good thing."

On Roglic's attack, he added: "Well to be honest, I was already dropped by then so I didn't really see it. I was just trying to manage my effort and I didn't have too much going on today."

Roglic 'properly back in the game' after Stage 13 heroics - Blythe

Over on The Breakaway, Eurosport expert Adam Blythe saluted Roglic and said it was now time for him to take control of the race.

"He's back in the game, properly back in the game. Being so dominant, his attack and the way the team rode, they've got a lot of confidence behind him," said Blythe.

"I think moving on, the pressure, the riding, everything like that to control the race, is going to be on their shoulders. That gap is now small enough to Ben O'Connor to say 'this is your race now, you have to get yourself into that red jersey'.

Roglic 'properly back in the game' after Stage 13 heroics - Blythe

Video credit: TNT Sports

Two more bruising mountain tests await the peloton this weekend, including a monster Stage 15 on Sunday which concludes on the ominous Cuitu Negru, where gradients top out at 24%.

"Primoz has answered those questions," former Olympic champion Dani Rowe added.

"[Previously] I said 'maybe there was a potential weakness'. There's no weakness there and that was a fantastic ride."

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